The Time of My Life
by MoreThanAName
Summary: What I want to see in season 7... A kind of continuation from my other fiction, A Dash to the Airport.
1. Chapter 1

1-

After what seemed like hours in that sweaty little interrogation room, Jane had been released pending further investigation, and he and Lisbon were free to leave the airport. Agent Abbot had secured them a room each for that night, with the team all travelling back to Austin the following day.

Lisbon was feeling ecstasy, a feeling of pure happiness and relief. Although Pike was a reasonable enough man, she knew she had been lying to herself and all those around her when in that relationship. Accepting his proposal had been one of the biggest mistakes she had ever made, one that she was lucky enough to have been able to escape from just in time. If Jane hadn't come to her rescue on that flight, she would now be facing a life built on lies and deceit, a life she would not have been able to live for very long. If she had gone to Washington on that flight, she would have ended up without a relationship, and without her best friend, the soul mate she had always been searching for.

Patrick Jane had always been 'the one'. She had just been stupid enough not to notice it for all these years. If she had to admit it, from the first moment she saw Jane, at his weakest and most vulnerable, she suspected that she would have trouble repelling his charm. She was defensive, not wanting to become attached and dependant on a man. She could handle herself quite well. But Patrick Jane proved that even she could fall in love beyond anything she had ever experienced before.

He was like a drug. Addictive with some very troublesome side effects. He was a perfect combination of devilish good looks, a slight carefree and distant attitude which she found intriguing, and his intellectual power which was far from anyone that she had ever met before him. Even thinking about him brought an enormous smile to her lips, stretching across her whole face and lighting her eyes with want and desire.

She never would have expected that anyone, let alone a man, could have such an impact upon her life. It troubled her slightly, that she was losing her willpower against people who could destroy her, mentally and emotionally.

Now, she could all but hope that he could be trusted with her heart. Although she had given it to him long ago, he had only just began to exercise his power over it. She had belonged to him from the moment he had managed to fulfil her childhood dreams, and brought her that pony

for her birthday, back in the CBI days. Since then, she has come dangerously close to losing her mind on a few occasions, the consultant she had the hots for causing her so much trouble.

The one way that she could describe the attraction to Jane was to compare it to a first, High School crush. She was the nerdy teachers pet who fell in love with the Jock, the popular boy. She had to admire him from a distance, both parties not allowing and form of intimacy or bonding. Eventually, though, she had managed to worm her way into his life, and it seemed like she was there to stay the moment.

Relationships like theirs took months, years of scrupulous and meticulous work. A mutual trust developed, a trust that came to be and dependency of the other participant. Building this form of closeness to another person was something was hard for Lisbon. If she saw that someone was getting to close for comfort, she pushed them away. Patrick gad managed to break down those barriers, and had snuck his way in and stole a piece of her heart. And he was there to stay. No matter what came of the 'thing' that they had shared at the airport, he would always own that place in her heart. In a way, he was her 'first true love', something she found slightly weird considering she was now in her early forties.

Exploring her feelings for Jane was something she never thought that she would have to put herself through. She was confident that the feelings were not mutual. He was still totally not over his wife, Angela. The fact he still wore his ring proved this fact. She respected the many reasons that he still wore that ring, but in her mind, this was a sign that he wasn't read to move on.

Since Red John's death, she realised, the pair had become distant, and she hated this fact. He was her best friend, her soul mate, and she had treated him like he was some stranger that she had been forced to work with. He managed to get her a spot on an extraordinary team, one that include another of her good friends- she had greatly missed Kimball Cho. However, reasons unknown to her, she had perceived his actions as selfish. For some reason, she thought she had something to live for back in the small town she previously worked. If she thought about it, she didn't have anything there. The only thing she had to look forward to was a once-in-a-while letter from her favourite consultant. Thinking about it, she should have saw then that there was a chance to rekindle their friendship, and she should have grasped that with two hands.

Now, sitting in a room back at the Blue Bird Lodge, she saw how stupid she had been. Patrick was an amazing human being, and she believed she didn't deserve this opportunity.

But who was she to argued. She loved him with all her heart, and would belong to him for as long as he would have her. Though, she still wasn't sure he actually wanted her. Was that kiss a show, something used to make her believe she was wanted so he didn't lose the one person who accepted his mischievous deeds, no matter how bad they are.

* * *

*Knock, knock, knock*

Someone at the door disturbed her filtering of emotion and thought. Slowly moving from the bed, and wandering toward the door on the opposite side of the room, she knew who she wanted to be at the door. And there he was.

Opening the door, an amazing sight beheld her. The first thing she saw was his clean, angelic curls. How she wished to be able to run her hands through them. He must have had a clean up, with his clothes looking fresh and new. A crisp white shirt was visible, collar peeking out from behind a newly ironed and washed blue suit jacket- his traditional style accompanied his shirt, with the matching trousers hanging from his waist. The trousers did wonders to his delicious, shapely buttocks. As the door creaked open, he turned to face her. He must have cleaned himself up a bit, with his beard having been trimmed and shaped in a way that made him look almost youthful, bringing out his amazing features even more than usual. The white shirt revealed his glorious tanned chest, a spectacle that deserved her attention. As he saw her, a smile spread across his face, one that made her copy his cheerful state immediately.

His boyish charm always comforted her. After all these years of knowing him, it had become a common occurrence of her life. When he was on the run in Venezuela, she missed his knack for giving her a ton of paperwork. She missed him most of all. Damn, she had it bad. Just him being this close to her, charming smile, hypnotic voice and masculine scent, made her a little hot under the collar.

Who was she kidding... she was head-over-heels in love with the man before her.

_"Hey" _was all that she could muster, as even now, she struggled to keep her composure.

"Hey" was the response she got. He smiled, even broader than before. He was truly mesmerizing.

Jane looked concerned. She realised that he had just asked her a question.

_"Huh, what was that?" _

"Can I come in?"

_"Sure." _

She moved away from the door, holding it open for her to pass through its frame behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

2-

Looking around the small room, Lisbon realised that there weren't actually that many places to sit. Sitting on the bed meant that Patrick was bound to sit next to her, and there was no doubt in her mind how that would end up. There was only one small armchair in the corner, but where would Jane sit? Or, there was outside on the small balcony. It was really late at night, and the temperature outside had dropped a few degrees.

Well, wherever they were, they were alone together, and she wasn't going to be able to resist him after what had occurred earlier that day.

She walked over and perched on the edge of the bed. As she guessed he would do, he came and sat down next to her.

"So, I just came by to say thank you, for getting me out of trouble again." Jane seemed nervous, which she had never seen before. It was like he was showing her who he could be when his mask was dropped and forgotten.

_"No problem. At least it wasn't quite as bad as your usual trickery" _she replied.

There were a few moments of silence, neither sure how to proceed in the conversation.

"Well, since we are both here, and neither of us have nothing to do, lets go and get dinner" Jane suggested.

"Sure. Lets do it" Lisbon agreed. _"But before we go, I want to get changed. Hold_

_on." _

With that, she grabbed the emerald dress that Jane had brought her, and ran into the bathroom that led off from the room they were currently in. As she turned to shut the door, she noticed that Jane's eyes had followed her, and were currently looking straight into hers. With a small, nervous smile, she shut the door. Turning and leaning her back against the cold hard wood, she filled her lungs and exhaled in one long motion. Sighing contently, she busied herself in getting out the 3 items of makeup she had with her, lining them up along the shelf above the sink, ready to be applied.

Upon the completion of this task, she looked in the mirror. Somehow, she looked... younger than she had done a few hours ago, checking herself before entering the interrogation room where Jane was being held. She smiled to herself. Jane's admission of feeling had given her a renewed sense of hope, that there was someone out there for everyone. It had taken a tremendous weight off her shoulders, knowing he felt the same way somehow made her feel relieved.

Whilst the love of her life patiently sat on the bed outside, she stripped off her work clothes, and began to get dressed.

Meanwhile, Patrick Jane was outside, still perched on the bed in the same place he was when she left him to get ready. He was also deep in thought about their recent development of relationship, and how they were going to handle their feelings when back at work surrounded by the team.

Who was he kidding? He had been in love with one Teresa Lisbon since forever ago. Making her that Origami Frog back when investigating Linus Wagner had been a sign of his affection for her, even if back then it was 'just friends' because of his lack of ability to move on for Angela. He properly realised that it was love when on the case involving... who was it again? Ah yeah, thats it... the homicide investigation of that girl Kara Palmer. Her friend got kidnapped by that crazy guy, Ranger Kyle something-or-other. He shot at her... and he had a moment or two where he didn't know if she was okay or not. He still wasn't ready to move on, so he never had acted upon his feelings. These are the feelings that he kept, buried down below the grief and self-hatred. Lisbon was the only one who could pick him up when he felt down. And that said a lot, because not even Angela had had such and uplifting effect on his demeanour.

Since meeting Teresa Lisbon, his world had taken a turn for the greater good. Solving cases helped him to remove the guilt he felt, for the brutal murder of his wife and child, as well as the sadness he carried around from his childhood. Having her by his side just sweetened the deal. For the first time in a long time, he felt like his life had some worth, that he was there for a reason. And Teresa Lisbon, his 'angry little princess' was the main reason for that. And the other 6 reasons were his previous and current colleagues at the CBI and the FBI.

There were many things that happened in his past that he was not yet ready to tell her, but in good time she will come to know all about him, the reasons behind the person he has become. His obsessive behaviour, his complete lack of self-belief and his knack for causing trouble- there was a reason for it all. Still... he wouldn't want to think about that now.

He stood up, and meandered his way toward the mirror that stood on the wall behind the television in Lisbon's room. If he tiptoed, he could see the top half of his body. he began systematically checking, making sure that his shirt was tucked in, that his jacket wasn't creased and just that he looked generally smart. He pulled the specially brought Burgundy tie from his inside suit pocket, and fastened it around his neck. Re-checking himself, folding his shirt collar down over his tie, he started to cruise around the room, poking his nose in.

A noise came from behind him. The squealing of a door opening, followed by a thump as it gently crashed against the wall behind it. He span around... and admired what he saw before him.

Lisbon, well, what a transformation. Although he found her beautiful anyway, she looked drop-dead gorgeous. Her hair was left down, and it framed her face perfectly, demonstrating the powerful jawline and highlighting the luscious emerald green of her eyes. Complementing eyeshadow and mascara further highlighted her eyes. a subtle pink lipstick had been applied to her lips, drawing his eyes to them and enticing him to kiss her again. But what astounded him the most was that dress. it blew him away. It was the exact shade of her eyes, and complemented her figure beautifully. It hugged the lush curves of her hips and breasts, hanging off her waist and billowing down to her ankles. To top the outfit off, a standard black heel could just be seen peaking out from the hem of the skirt.

"Spin for us?" he inquired.

As she span, he could see that his choice for her evening wear was a good one. He saw the way it flared out around her, making her look like she was floating on a big green cloud. The delicate silky fabric that formed the dress made her breathtaking. It was clingy in the right places, allowing him to see what all these years of being a cop had done to her body. And what he saw was a sight to long for.

She was truly stunning.

And she was all his. Well, thats how he considered the scenario anyway.

Hopefully, going to dinner with her now would allow them to discuss things, what they each wanted and how to handle their obvious desire for one another.

He suddenly realised that he had been staring, mouth hanging open, for several minutes now, and she was starting to look at him in a questioning way.

"Urm..." he began, not knowing what his mouth was going to say next. His mind had gone to mush.

_"Jane, back to planet Earth... yeah? I'm looking forward to your treat of some food" _she replied to his stammering.

"Yeah, of course my dear" he said, using some serious biofeedback techniques to regain a little of the composure he had left.

With that, they exit the room, chatting away like the old friends that they were about where to head for dinner that evening. 


	3. Chapter 3

3-

The restaurant he had chosen for them to eat at was half a mile down the beach, so Jane hobbled along beside her on their stroll toward 'Le Restaurant du Poisson'. Although his ankle still hurt a fair bit, the amount of biofeedback he was using, as well as the ice and pain medication he had acquired ensured it was not insufferable. He could just about walk, and look relatively normal as he did so.

He felt happy. He felt fortunate and grateful for the woman beside him. Through thick and thin, his good times and the bad, she had been there. To dig him out of a hole with a particularly sticky situation. He had fond memories of her helping him.

Reminiscing over the various cases where he had needed her help was one of his favourite pastimes, especially when he had had a particularly hard day. One of his favourite examples was when working the case of the murdered journalist, who had threatened to expose the corrupt manager and coach of a Mixed Martial Art fighter. He managed to upset someone, and ended up being chased throughout the arena, before Lisbon came to the rescue and calmed the guy down. The relief he felt after that one was astronomical. He smiled at the memory.

* * *

_"Penny for your thoughts, Jane?" _

"Huh?" he replied, coming out of his thoughts and back into the real world. "Oh, it's nothing really. Just remembering an old case we worked. You managed to stop someone who almost gave me a beating."

_"Which case? There has been more than one example of that form of behaviour from suspects that you have 'upset', shall we say?" _she joked back, seemingly curious about what he was specifically thinking of.

"That one with the MMA fighter that chased me for a good ten minutes before you calmed him down. Really saved my ass that day huh?" he said, vocalizing his thoughts.

_"Oh yeah. You managed to really piss him off. I know that feeling well" _she commented, turning to face him and batting her eyes in the process. An intense gaze followed for a short while, before she returned her focus to walking in a straight line.

That small manoeuvre managed to make Jane feel hot under the collar. She looked truly cute tonight, sexy even, and the way she just looked at him... well. What she could do to a man was remarkable.

He wanted to touch her, cement the words he said earlier that evening. On a whim, he reached out, grabbing ahold of her hand and interlacing their fingers. At first, he could feel her tense slightly, unaware of what to do with the sudden physical connection now between them. She then relaxed, and gave his hand a squeeze, showing her approval and encouragement.

A broad grin spread onto his face, pasted there for a long while to come. The happiness he now felt couldn't be mirrored.

It was her. It had always been her. Why couldn't he have seen it earlier and made the most of his time with her? He vowed to savour every second with her, from now until he end of time.

Considering just a few hours ago, he was facing losing the most important thing in his life, the overwhelming emotion he felt now was indescribable. A roller coaster of a day had them to this moment, a content peacefulness about their moods. His love for her was second only to Angela. However, Lisbon had already claimed her place in his heart. He was fairly certain she was there to stay.

When he returned from his undercover stint with Lorelei, he could see the months of concern etched onto her face. It had damaged her. Her beauty had taken a small setback, the lines making her appear older than she had looked when he left. When he interviewed Lorelei, he could see her holding back the emotion, and he couldn't blame her. He was annoyed at just how wrong he had handled that situation. She had been breaking in front of him, but his obsessive behaviour had prevented him from stopping that. He had cared more about Red John than his Teresa. That was the most stupid mistake he had made in his life. It really annoyed him that he sunk that low to get the murderer. Though, as he told himself, he was only doing it to avenge Angela and Charlotte, he promised himself never to sink that low for a case again. The memory of that night sickened him. It wasn't just damaging for him, but the people he had come to call his friends. He couldn't do that to them again. Never again.

_"You okay Jane?" _

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just nervous I guess." he said, smiling at her to reassure them both.

That was the truth. He was nervous. Nervous as hell. When it came down to it, more nervous that any other moment in his life. He was on an adventure with his new love. Everything before her that he had loved became damaged, broken. First was his mom, who had not been there since before he could remember. He was told she had died, but his father was an unreliable source, and others in the Carnival refused to comment on the subject. Then came his father, who abused him from a young age and used him as an act to earn his way. After that, of course, came Charlotte and Angela. His stupidity and cockiness meant that they suffered. And he resented himself for that fact. He had almost broken Teresa, quite a few times actually.

But she always managed to bounce back, and help him along a fair bit in the process. For every step he forced her back, they both went forward two. Thats just the person she was. A real gem.

That quickly became his nickname for her- Gem- though he would never live to use it if she ever found out about it. The name suited her. Her personality shone through, a real diamond in the rough. She never let anyone down. It was amazing. Along with her personality, he had given her this name for another reason. Her eyes. A beautiful Emerald colour. With Emerald being one of the few precious gems, he decided that this would be his secret name for her.

He never would have thought that she shared his feelings. Although normally very perceptive in noticing the way that people felt, he had no idea of what was going on through her head. She was a closed book. That was another thing that was different about her, it made her unique. He couldn't read her. It scared him at first, thought that he was losing his touch. But he could still read everyone else perfectly fine.

In the end, he just had to pretend that he could read her, stay normal. Otherwise, the team would have seen that he thought differently about her, that she was special to him. He couldn't let onto that. It was too soon.

Over the years, he just pretended he didn't feel anything for her other than friendship. It became a comfortable relationship between them, and he couldn't disturb that. He wouldn't wreck what they had, because he was fairly certain that she didn't feel the same way. Obviously, he read that wrong. At that point in his life, ruining the one good friendship he had would have been disastrous, sending him back into another downward spiral. He couldn't face hitting rock bottom again. He just couldn't. This time, it would have had a fatal ending, he was sure of it. The two things keeping him going were his thirst for vengeance, and his love for his Gem.

* * *

Grace Van Pelt was another if his closest friends, back in the day and in the present. He liked to catch up with her and Wayne Rigsby every now and again. They now had a children, as well as Ben, to which him, Cho and Lisbon were godparents. Naturally, they all took a shine to the younger generation in the Rigsby- Van Pelt crew. While the rest of the old gang taught them to be good, respecting children, Jane taught them a few of his old tricks, ensuring the two young parents were kept on their toes. It was a miracle to see. The naïve lovers Jane knew back at the CBI were now parents to two children.

Kimball Cho was same old. The hard face, 'Iceman' to use his childhood nickname. It suited him well. All things considered, Jane would trust Cho with his life, and Jane though the same could be said for the other man, though it was fairly hard to tell. Beyond the mask, Cho was a softie. He would do anything to protect those closest to him. The teams, both new and old, were Cho's life. It made sense, considering that the woman he loved also belong to the latter mention of team. Kim Fischer was a remarkable woman, the perfect person to tame Cho. She had a kind heart, giving spirit, and was also inclined to 'like' Cho. They would make such a cute couple when they finally admitted feelings for one another. Hopefully they could take example from the demonstration Jane and Lisbon had recently given. Though, such a public declaration of love wasn't Cho's style.

Agent Abbott. Jane was fairly sure that Dennis was one of them people that paid attention. It seemed like Abbott had seen the feelings that Jane had. That had confused Jane greatly. He normally did such a good job at hiding his feelings, yet he was certain that Abbott had seen it almost instantly. The man was mysterious, an outsider of sorts. But he also cared deeply for his team, hence his want for the best for them. A combination of this along with his curved strictness was perfect for being the teams leader. His discretion for particular matters made him approachable, but his enforcement of the rules made sure you knew who was in control. He was another truly great man. Then there was Wiley. The guy practically worshipped Jane, and another man considered a friend to him. His youth allowed him to be successful, and to become an important member of the new team.

Although Jane was working at the FBI to repay for the crime he committed, he had grown fond of the people he worked with. The chemistry between various people in it made it another family- like organisation.

* * *

"Here we are" he said to Lisbon, pulling himself from his daydreaming.

_"This place?" _ asked Lisbon, confused as to how posh it appeared from the sight of it.

"Yeah. Only the best for this evening" he replied.

Enough of his reminiscing for now. They had arrived at the restaurant, and Jane was eager to see how this played out. From the pressure in the grip Teresa had now put on his hand, he knew she felt just and nervous as he was. With a friendly squeeze of her hand, and a comforting smile portrayed across to her, he opened the door, holding it open for her to pass through for their first official date.

* * *

**Okay, so they didn't quite make dinner in this Chapter, but I promise you that it will get better. ****Sorry in advance if I disappoint. **

**Chapters might become less frequent after Wednesday, as I go back to school, but I am hoping to write a few more before then. **

**Thank you for the follows/faves. :)**


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